Post Of The Week – Saturday 24th June 2017

It is odd that, although the genetic basis of anorexia nervosa is established by twin studies, which genes are involved has remained elusive. This article explains new research which addresses this problem. Not only is an area of Chromosome 12 identified but there are also correlations with other traits and disorders. People with particular variations in this area are more likely to be neurotic and to have abnormalities in insulin and glucose levels. This makes it possible to begin to understand possible causes for the condition.

2) Nature-Nurture: The Interactionist Approach

We were thinking about this last week while revising for Paper 3. Annette Karmiloff-Smith died earlier this year. This article is a tribute to her, explaining how in many domains our understanding of interaction of nature and nurture is developing. You can hear Annette Karmiloff-Smith talking about development and environment in this episode of The Life Scientific.

3) Gambling As A Health Issue

GPs will typically ask people about addiction to smoking or alcohol but are not trained to spot signs of problem gambling. It is seen as a social problem, not a health problem. In this article, Mark Griffiths argues that it should be seen as a health problem. The obvious implication of this is that the use of CBT to treat gambling, which we look at in our course. If CBT was used more often, we might be a bit clearer about how effective it can be.

4) Thinking Like A Scientist

The course we study asks us to think like a scientist. This article suggests that thinking like a scientist is something people find quite difficult. We’re swayed by anecdotes, we’re over-confident, we’re affected by prior beliefs, we’re seduced by jargon, graphs and images of the brain. How these affect us as we tackle our course is something to think about.

5) Why Counselling Psychology

Counselling Psychology comes up as part of the humanistic approach in our course. It’s worth listening to Dr. Hamilton Fairfax to understand how Counselling Psychology is delivered now.